There are many situations in which it is necessary to collect and haul materials while working outside. One situation is when doing yard work which may include raking leaves, collecting grass that has been cut, and picking up fallen branches. In each of these situations, these materials are collected into a pile and then hauled away for disposal.
An existing way of collecting and hauling the materials is to use a tarp. The tarp is spread out onto the ground in the area where the materials are being collected. The materials are placed on the top of the sheet. Once the collection is complete, the user grabs one or more corners of the sheet and pulls the sheet across the ground to haul the materials away for disposal. At the disposal location, the user pulls the sheet out from underneath the collected materials. Although this manner of collecting and hauling materials has been used by many persons, it has several issues that make it difficult.
One issue is that the collected materials that are positioned on the tarp often fall off during hauling. These materials may fall off one or more of the front side, lateral sides, and back side while the tarp is being pulled by the user across the ground.
Another issue is the difficulty for the user to bundle the edges of the tarp together and hold the edges while hauling the materials. Often, the bundled tarp is too large to fit within the user's hand. Further, the tarp often becomes wet from the materials making the tarp slippery and more difficult to hold together. It is frustrating for a user to maintain their hold on the edges while dragging the tarp across the ground.
A further issue is that the tarp may blow away by the wind when it is initially placed on the ground. In use, the tarp is spread out and placed on the ground prior to loading the materials. The relatively large surface area of the extended tarp and the light-weight of the tarp often cause it to blow away in the wind. Again, this is frustrating for the user who must then bring the tarp back and spread it out on the ground. This seems to happen frequently in the autumn when raking leaves as the wind tends to be stronger during this time of the year.